Shawn Langdon wins Top Fuel at the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals presented by NGK Spark Plugs – NHRA Photo
FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals Presented by NGK Spark Plugs
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
Firebird Motorsports Park; Chandler, Ariz.
Post-Event Wrap-Up
For immediate release. March 22, 2026
THREE TIME TOP FUEL WINNER:
Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air Careers Dragster
Finals Broadcast Replay (eastern time): 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, March 25 on FS2
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 1 qualifier at the FMP NHRA
Arizona Nationals. It was his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and
the 23rd of his career. Langdon’s best qualifying attempt came in the
Friday morning session when the Kalitta Air Careers dragster reached the
finish line in 3.783 seconds at 331.36 mph. Due to record head with
temperatures above 100 degrees, qualifying began at 10 a.m. on Friday
and Saturday.
Eliminations: Under scorching summer-like temperatures and a track
temperature approaching 150 degrees in the afternoon, Langdon had a bye
in the first round and then defeated Tony Schumacher and Maddi Gordon to
reach the final round against Leah Pruett. Langdon was off the starting
line first and never trailed posting a 3.877 second pass at 325.45 mph
to take his third-straight win at Firebird Motorsports Park. Langdon and
the Kalitta Air Careers team have won 12-consecutive rounds of racing at
the suburban Phoenix track. The Langdon-Brian Husen driver-crew chief
combination is undefeated at this track.
When Langdon advanced to the semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission
#2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the next race in Pomona, Calif. During
Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals
in Phoenix will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse
and championship bonus points.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Phoenix in third place in the
NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails second-place Josh Hart by four
points and leads fourth-place Leah Pruett by 12 points.
Langdon on Phoenix: “It’s all about the team and surrounding yourself
with good people. Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) isn’t here this
weekend, but I’m sure he was watching. It’s great to win here again. I’m
so proud of our team being able to do what they did with some of the
hottest conditions we’ve ever seen, Brian (Crew Chief Brian Husen) was
able to make the adjustments. With the heat, it wasn’t ideal, but we all
dealt with it, and the track did fairly well with the temperatures we
had. It wasn’t fast racing, but it was good racing.
“We have a pretty good run going here in Phoenix, so we might need to
talk to NHRA about putting on a second race here, but to win three
straight here is a credit to my team. Brian and the guys have done such
a great job over the last three years. It’s cool to be able to have a
track like that where you have a lot of confidence. It’s all Brian. I
just I hold the steering wheel straight. It’s Brian’s work ethic, his
determination, and his passion for the sport. He’s made everybody
better; all the crew guys; me as a driver, and it’s just every little
thing. For him, it’s always in the details, like he always says. I just
try to leave on time and hold the steering wheel straight and just let
Brian’s talent speak for itself.
“Luckily, the driver gets to go into the air conditioning and put a
towel over his head, but the crew guys don’t get that luxury. This one
is definitely for them, They battled the heat, did a great job with it,
and the car was great all day today.
“Some little issues with the car popped up throughout the day, and the
cool thing about being a part of this team is that even though you won
the race, they’re still looking at the finer details. Brian demands
perfection. If the car’s not perfect, we’re gonna make it perfect so
we’re staying to test tomorrow, even though we won the race, to try to
make the car better for Pomona.”
Crew Chief Brian Husen on Phoenix: “Man, it’s been a really tough
weekend for everybody out here trying to race (in the heat). We just
kind of kept picking away and picking away and picking away at it, and
finally on a hot racetrack, we kind of got it all put together in the
right way, and made a pretty solid run. I’m pretty happy with that.
These Kalitta Air Careers crew guys that work on this car, all of my
guys, they’re so good at what they do, and they never make mistakes.
They drag their stuff up here, and it always runs what we think it
should run, even if it smokes the tires, so all the credit goes to those
guys. I couldn’t be more happy for Connie and Shawn and the whole
Kalitta Motorsports gang.”
Doug Kalitta, Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster – NHRA Photo
Finals Broadcast Replay (eastern time): 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, March 25 on FS2
Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 3 qualifier at the FMP NHRA Arizona
Nationals. Like both of his teammates, Kalitta’s best qualifying attempt
came in the Saturday-morning session when the Mac Tools dragster needed
just 3.804 seconds to reach the finish line at 330.55 mph. Due to record
head with temperatures above 100 degrees, qualifying began at 10 a.m. on
Friday and Saturday.
Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge: Kalitta won the first Mission
Foods Challenge of the season defeating Maddi Gordon and Antron Brown in
a rematch of the Gainesville, Fla., semifinals and finals. It was
Kalitta’s sixth win in the special Saturday event; he was the overall
champion last season. It was the second time Kalitta, and his teammate
J.R. Todd, captured the Mission Foods Challenge double win; the duo also
won together at Indianapolis last season.
Eliminations: Kalitta defeated Will Smith and Billy Torrence before
losing to Leah Pruett in the semifinals, 3.887 seconds to 3.926 seconds,
in an extremely close race. Pruett’s margin of victory was 19
thousandths of a second.
When Kalitta advanced to the semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission
#2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the next race in Pomona, Calif. During
Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals
in Phoenix will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse
and championship bonus points.
Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Phoenix in first place in the
NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He leads second-place Josh Hart by two
points and third-place Shawn Langdon by six points.
Kalitta on Phoenix “It was a dog fight out here for sure; our Mac Tools
team lost by .0019 or something crazy like that. It was a close race on
a hot track. It’s a bummer for all of us. More than anything, we were
trying to get Alan (Crew Chief Alan Johnson) a win on his birthday so
that was the biggest goal we had. We’re looking forward to Pomona for
sure.”
J.R. Todd, DHL Funny Car – NHRA Photo
Finals Broadcast Replay (eastern time): 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, March 25 on FS2
Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 8 qualifier at the FMP NHRA Arizona
Nationals. Todd made strong runs in three of the four qualifying
sessions, but he made a 4.024-second pass at 322.58 mph in the
Saturday-morning session in his best qualifying attempt of the weekend.
Due to record head with temperatures above 100 degrees, qualifying began
at 10 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge: Todd won the first Mission
Foods Challenge of the season defeating Alexis DeJoria and Jordan
Vandergriff in a rematch of the Gainesville, Fla., semifinals and
finals. It was Todd’s sixth win in the special Saturday event. It was
the second time Todd, and his teammate Doug Kalitta, captured the
Mission Foods Challenge double win; the duo also won together at
Indianapolis last season.
Eliminations: Todd defeated Austin Prock in the first round setting up a
quarterfinal matchup with No. 1 qualifier Spencer Hyde. Todd was off the
starting line first in what was an incredible drag race, but Hyde edged
Todd at the finish line 4.145 seconds to 4.160 seconds. Hyde’s margin of
victory was .0106 seconds.
Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Phoenix in fourth place in in
the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails third-place Ron Capps by
11 points and leads fifth-place Matt Hagan by five points.
Todd on Phoenix: “I hate to lose such a close race – hate it mostly for
my guys – especially in the heat we had today. Dickie and Todd (Crew
Chief Dickie Venables and Todd Smith) have the DHL GR Supra at a place
where we can go out and win rounds in any conditions. We just came out
on the wrong side of a great race against Spencer. This whole DHL team
definitely has good energy right now. We’ll be ready to get back after
it in Pomona in a few weeks.”
Next Race: Team Kalitta will be back in action April 9-12, 2026 at the
Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. For additional
information, please visit www.nhra.com [1]. For additional information
on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com [2].
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